Opinion on winterability of my rig

Well, I guess if I made it through this, I'm good to go, lol

Scott,

You might want to consider having those 12 volt pads installed on your black and grey tanks and their PVC pipe runs underneath your motorhome. It's not that expensive and will free you from concerns in cold weather about any liquid in these tanks or their outlets freezing.

These heaters - once you switch them on - cycle themselves on and off automatically, hence aren't on all the time. The 12 volt versions even allow you to have them turned on while driving in freezing temperatures (powered by the coach batteries, but hence indirectly by the engine alternator) so you can arrive at destinations knowing all is well with your outside tank liquids: http://www.ultraheat.com/

A variety of experiences and options offered. Having camped several winter seasons in my ROO, adaptabilty was Job #1. I have continued winter camping in the MH, admittedly only locally but Mid-Atlantic winters can be brutal too, just not as bad as our Northern and Mid-West neighbors. It is and has been a work in progress. Although I have ducted heat and a heated underbelly I rarely use propane heat. I do maintain a small space heater on a 38 degree thermostat in the black/gray tank and water pump area which keeps things 'warmer'. I have wrestled with emptying both tanks overnight and as observed by someone, the more thermal mass the lessor chance of freezing. But dumping each night is no big deal. I often do not detach the fresh water hose as well since it is heated but there really is no reason to keep it attached unless a steady stream of fresh water is absolutely necessary. That is why we have fresh water tanks. I have not insulated much underneath but do have reflectix inserts on every window and vent in the living area as well as plexiglass panels on the screen door. I use an oil filled radiator and one ceramic heater in the living area to balance direct/indirect heat. The coldest I have experienced for an overnight was a low of 25 degrees outside and it was a struggle to keep it toasty inside. I have had several days running where getting to a 40 degree high was a stretch. Of course that is when I scratch my head and ask myself "why"? A warm sweater, blanket, good DVDs and a bottle of Fireball help too!

Hi Phil,

I started out on a quest to prevent freeze up of the fresh water plumbing while driving. The dash heat would cause the thermostat on the propane furnace to be "fooled" into not calling for heat. Running the water heater did not help.

I started with a 1500 watt heater on the floor under the kitchenette sink. That did not help. I added a light bulb beside the water pump--that did keep the pump safe but I still had water line freeze ups. I added a 50 watt rod heater beside the pipes. No improvement.

What did work was dual window fans replacing the cold air return on the furnace. All they did was move warm living space air under the cabinets and through the duct work. I have them controlled by a mechanical thermostat which "lives" in the coldest part of the under cabinet space.

The waste tanks were supposed to be heated. Unfortunately the duct work to them is missing. The easy solution was to add a 120 volt outlet and a thermostatically controlled heater. I can safely say that 200 watts is not quite enough.

The carpets are a comfort measure to get rid of cold floors. I was able to heat 100% electrically without them in the mix.

Good luck with "looking my Rv up". Unfortunately it became an orphan in 2012.

pianotuna wrote:
Because the electric carpets radiate heat into the "basement", which due to the factory design is insulated but not heated.

Hmmm ... maybe I ought to look up your Class C to see what it is. :h

Mine is a "basement" Class C with taller outside storage cabinets and the resulting coach floor that is 4-5 inches higher than the cab floor ... but I have no plumbing down there below the coach's insulated floor level other than black/grey tanks and their 3" black PVC drain pipes between the tanks and their slide dumping valves. The black/grey tanks and short runs of black PVC are kept from freezing with 12 volt heating pads. If I used floor heating pads, I'd be shooting one-half of their radiant heat energy downwards which would be wasting it, so I need to keep all radiant energy constrained to be only on the coach interior side of the coach flooring.

Hi Phil,

Because radiant heaters produce quite a bit of light, that would make sleeping difficult.

Because they are not as safe as oil filled. I will not operate a radiant heater when I'm not present in the RV.

Because oil filled have some thermal mass, so they continue to release some heat if they are turned off. That was useful for situations where I had to "load balance" in the past. With the hybrid inverter that is no longer much of an issue.

Because the electric carpets are low frequency radiant heat (as are the oil filled).

Because the electric carpets radiate heat into the "basement", which due to the factory design is insulated but not heated.

Because the carpets take no "extra" space. (the oil filled are in otherwise unused space).

I do still love the radiant heat the best. The unit I'm using can be set for 142 watts. It is great for thawing frozen storage doors.

pnichols wrote:

pianotuna wrote:
284 watts of radiant (1) my favorite

Why don't you get rid of some of those other sources of electric heat and beef up your radiant form of electric heating. :h

Wow! I hope my pictures from this weekend won't look like that, lol....

We got caught unexpectedly last February and spent 3 days in the 20's. We closed off the cab area and ran two electric heaters to keep comfortable.

pianotuna wrote:
284 watts of radiant (1) my favorite

Why don't you get rid of some of those other sources of electric heat and beef up your radiant form of electric heating. :h

Hi Phil,

I heat 100% electrically. Propane is a back up only. I use oil filled, radiant, electric carpets, and fan based heaters. It has been tested to -36 C (-33 F) which is as cold as it got last year.

Inside the living quarters:

750 watts of carpet (3)
1300 watts of oil filled heaters(3)
284 watts of radiant (1) my favorite
1300 watts fan based (1)
1500 watt heat strip (set below room temperature so if outdoor temperature cause RV temperature to drop it will cut in)
15 watts fan only to "push" air through the duct work (1 dual window fan)
1 220 volt 100 watt light bulb that lives by the water pump
(last two items on a mechanical thermostat)

Outside living quarters:

1 electric carpet 250 watts pass through storage on a thermocube TC-3
1 fan based 600 watts in enclosed waste tanks area on a mechanical thermostat
1 200 watt heater in hose storage compartment (switched from inside RV)
1 60 watt bulb to protect the fridge from freeze up on a thermocube TC-3

Not all of these are active at the same time, except when I pull the RV out of storage in mid winter.

No extension cords are used. I do have two auxiliary shore power cords of 20 amp and 15 amp to supplement the OEM 30 amp.

I would recommend upgrading the 120 outlets to anyone using more than about a 600 watt item.